Tyler Hamilton has called on Pat McQuaid to step down as president of the International Cycling Union.
McQuaid yesterday branded Hamilton and Floyd Landis as "scumbags" and accused them of trying to be heroes. Both testified against Lance Armstrong, having previously been disgraced by failed drug tests.
Hamilton's response came after World Anti-Doping Agency chief John Fahey said officials in charge of the sport at the time of the Armstrong affair had to take some of the responsibility.
McQuaid did not take over as UCI president until after Armstrong won the last of seven Tour de France titles, but his comments about Hamilton have provoked an angry response.
On Monday, the UCI ratified the sanctions recommended by the United States Anti-Doping Agency, who concluded Armstrong and his United States Postal Service team ran "the most sophisticated, professionalised and successful doping programme that sport has ever seen".
Armstrong was banned for life and all his results from August 1, 1998 removed, including his wins at the Tour from 1999 to 2005.
The UCI management committee will meet on Friday to discuss the "exact sporting consequences" of the decision, including whether the titles and prize money will be redistributed.
However, McQuaid's comments about Hamilton have led to the rider issuing a statement in which he said: "Pat McQuaid's comments expose the hypocrisy of his leadership. Instead of seizing an opportunity to instil hope for the next generation of cyclists, he continues to point fingers, shift blame and attack those who speak out, tactics that are no longer effective. Pat McQuaid has no place in cycling."
McQuaid said: "Another thing that annoys me is that Landis and Hamilton are being made out to be heroes. They are not heroes, they are scumbags. All they have done is damage the sport."
McQuaid, UCI president since 2006, rejected calls for his resignation over perceived failures by the world governing body over the Armstrong affair.
McQuaid insisted the UCI has "nothing to hide" over a donation of more than $100,000 (£62,000) made by Armstrong in 2002, denying it was connected to any cover-up of a positive test.
"Don't try to make connections between the suspicious test and the donation. There were no positive tests from him," said McQuaid. "It's certainly not a resignation issue."
Fahey yesterday claimed the sport would only regain credibility when the senior officials on watch take responsibility for the scandal.
Fahey said: "They have to take the blinkers off, look at the past, examine the people who are there, ask themselves the questions: 'Are those same people still in the sport and can they proceed forward with those people remaining?'
"I don't think there's any credibility if they don't do that and I think they need to get confidence back into the sport so that its millions of supporters around the world will watch and support the sport going forward."
Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme believes the race must not have a victor in the Armstrong years. He said: "The formal decision has to be taken by the UCI but for us, we must have a clean record. This period must be marked by the absence of winners.
"The UCI rules are clear. When a rider is disqualified, he must pay the prize money back."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article